The present invention relates to a method for processing sheet material, in particular papers of value such as bank notes, checks, etc., by which different groups of sheet material are processed successively, the different groups of sheet material being separated for processing.
A method and bank note processing machine for processing different groups of bank notes are known for example from JP 62-82493A. The different groups of bank notes correspond to deposits by different depositors which are separated by separator cards. The separator cards are inserted between the different deposits to separate them. The separator cards may be disposed at the beginning, the end or the beginning and end of the group of bank notes forming the particular deposit. The separator cards may contain information, for example, about the depositor and/or the deposit. Further, the separator cards are designed so as to be recognized automatically by the bank note processing machine during processing. When a separator card is recognized, the bank note processing machine can enter in the books the associated group of bank notes for the corresponding deposit or depositor. For recognizing the separator cards, the bank note processing machine has magnetic sensors which, on the one hand, are used for reading the information coded on a magnetic stripe on the separator cards. On the other hand, the signals of the sensors can be used to recognize the separator cards even when the latter are masked by bank notes, as may occur upon multiple removal. Thus it is ensured with relatively high probability that the separator cards are always recognized, so that at least the boundaries between individual deposits can be recognized.
A similar method for semicontinuous processing of bank notes is known from WO 98/05006 A1.
However, known methods have the disadvantage tea;t the preparation, i.e. separation by an operator using separator cards, is error-prone, in particular when the operator must provide such separator card with information about the associated deposit, because this frequently involves transfer errors and mix-ups. In addition, when the magnetic stripe of the separator card is masked it is frequently impossible to read the coded information contained therein, which prevents recognition of the individual groups of sheet material.